Incline Treadmills - Best Home Treadmill for Weight Loss

Incline treadmills are great home exercise equipment treadmills to help you shift the stubborn menopausal weight gain.

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If you've ever done any outdoor fitness walking or hiking, then you know how much more of a workout it is going uphill. In fact, some calorie calculators estimate that walking up a moderate uphill can burn at least 50% more calories than walking the same speed on a flat surface. So if you're considering purchasing some home exercise equipment, you should take a look at incline treadmills.

In addition to being able to burn significantly more calories in the same amount of time by walking or jogging on an incline, there's also a strengthening benefit that's more significant than walking on a flat surface. Simply put, you'll use more of the muscles in your legs, and use them more intensely, by walking up an incline. Don't worry, though; this isn't the kind of exercise that builds muscular bulk at all.

Many treadmills have a separate mechanism that allows the treadmill walking surface to be increased 10% or 12% incline. This is a fairly significant grade, and should be enough for most exercisers.

Even if the maximum grade is too steep to use for your your entire workout time, many of these treadmills have built-in workout programs that will vary the incline as you workout. So, for example, if you select a 20 minute hill workout, you might spend the first four or five minutes walking at a flat grade, and then the machine will automatically raise the incline by a degree or two every few minutes after that (and then lower it back down as you near the end of your workout).

Many times it's easier to commit to a pre-programmed workout than to try to figure out how to change the incline.

For a more extreme workout, there are treadmills that can go up to a 40% incline. These treadmills are more for walking than for running, so the surface area of the walking deck is a bit on the small side. However, if you plan on using your new machine for walking (but not running), and can afford the models with extreme incline abilities (they're generally more expensive), then they're worth taking a look at.

There are some very inexpensive non-motorized treadmills that are fixed at an 8% or 10% incline, but these are usually quite small treadmills, and because they're non-motorized (the treadmill surface simply moves as you push against it), they don't have any options as far as preprogrammed workouts or monitoring.

Many users (especially those just beginning a workout program) simply find the running surface to be too steep. A better way to save money is to buy a used treadmill. If you're short of space, you may be able to find a fold up treadmill that is suitable.

Be sure to do a test walk on whatever model you're interested in. You want to be sure that the size of the machine fits your body, and that you feel comfortable on it. Incline treadmills can be a great way to vary your workouts to your goals and needs, and to make sure that as you become more fit and healthy during the menopause and beyond, your equipment will be able to keep up with you.